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2016-2017 Season

Date: December 5, 2015Author: Edna Cooper

Welcome to PITS Rugby!

Registration for the 2016-2017 Season will be Open Soon!

As the days get shorter, the air gets crisper and cold of winter hangs in the air, you know it’s time for rugby in Piedmont. We are already having quick games of touch at Witter on Saturdays, and it is looking very promising for the PITS team in 2017. Captains Emmet Smith and Bill Whiteside look very good and have a lot of experienced support which bodes well for PITS in 2017. Returning winger, Owen Barry looks to spark the outside attack again and is showing that he hasn’t lost a step. He ended the season with PITS best runs of the year, including a a 75 meter burst against the touring Gleneagles from Vancouver.

Veteran Gavin Hill will be very hard on opposing teams as he will be pestering the backs from his spot at loose forward and then breaking their spirit with his own long runs. Michael Hebert and Lane Bentley will be returning for more exciting play from the forwards. Propped by Lane and Whiteside, Michael Hebert was a spark at hooker with several spirited runs in the second half of the 2016 season. The PITS club returns to the Redwood Empire League playing rivals Berkeley Rhinos and Alameda Islanders as well as traveling to Marin, Santa Rosa and Napa for league games.

PITS Rugby has been a Piedmont institution for decades now. PITS rugby was founded in 1979 by John “Trailer” Cullom when he attended Piedmont High School. Coaches Ned Schroeder and Ken Meyersieck pace the sidelines as they have since 2009. Jukka Valkonen, a PITS alum and world class triathlete rounds out the coaching staff as PITS strength and conditioning coach.

PITS season starts with practices Monday and Wednesday at Laney College, from 3:45 to 6 and Friday mornings for forwards skills work. An open meeting will be held at Coach Schroeder’s house, 2401 Leimert Blvd., on Sunday December 11, starting at 6:00 p.m.